Recology’s Recycle Central is not among San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park and Fisherman’s Wharf as one of the city’s must-see attractions, but perhaps the material recovery facility (MRF) the company operates on the bulk cargo marine terminal Pier 96 should be.

Designed and constructed by Recology in partnership with the city of San Francisco, Recycle Central opened in 2002. Collection trucks operated by Recology deliver between 650 and 700 tons of recyclables from homes, apartment buildings and commercial properties per day. The material is sorted into 14 different commodities, baled and shipped to domestic and international markets.

Over the past four years, Recology has invested $20 million in major retrofits at the MRF to continue producing the clean, high-quality commodities the business is known for. The upgrades included updating the screening and sorting system in 2016, installing three additional optical sorters in 2018 and adding four robotic sorters in 2019. General Manager Maurice Quillen, who has been with Recology for more than 30 years, has overseen the retrofits and kept operations running during each modernization.

“There’s one key driver behind all the upgrades at the facility, and that’s the change in the composition of the material we have to sort today versus the composition of the material we had to sort 20 years ago when we built the facility,” he says.

Sorting technology is key

The incoming fiber stream, which makes up about 75 to 85 percent of the recyclables at Recycle Central, has shifted over the years. Cardboard is abundant in the curbside stream, whereas newspaper was prominent when the facility was built, Quillen says.

“We’ve really had to increase the size of the fiber screens in order to sort the material and add a cardboard screen to separate the cardboard from other recyclables,” he says. “There was so much cardboard coming into the system, it was choking the fiber screen.”

In 2016, Recycle Central installed two optical sorters supplied by Van Dyk Recycling Solutions, Norwalk, Connecticut, to achieve better throughput and material recognition. This doubled the number of optical sorters the MRF used. The optical units sort containers as well as “pull out any paper or containers that we missed” from the initial sort, Quillen says.

The plastics stream also has shifted to include hard-to-recycle bulky plastics, films and flexible plastic packaging. Recycle Central takes extra steps to keep plastic bags and plastic film out of finished bales of recycled paper, he says. In 2018, it became the first MRF in North America to work with Pertuis, France-based Pellenc ST to install three optical units for fiber recovery.

Incoming material goes through a series of screens that separate the paper from plastic containers before the paper stream reaches the Pellenc optical sorters for quality control, Quillen explains.

“We’re very happy with that installation,” he says. “I like the Pellenc units a lot. We are sub-1 percent contamination on our fiber bales at this point, and we are negatively sorting fiber. I don’t think there are too many MRFs that are negatively sorting fiber at sub-1 percent contamination, and the Pellenc optical sorters are key to that whole process.”

Working with robots

Last year, Recology worked with Bulk Handling Systems (BHS), Eugene, Oregon, to install four Max-AI AQC (Autonomous Quality Control) units and one VIS (Visual Identification System) at Recycle Central. This equipment helps produce the less than 1 percent contamination that many domestic mills and manufacturers require.

John Ferrari, the senior operations manager at Recycle Central, says the MRF’s robotic sorters are learning to identify different types of plastics, remove them from the conveyor belts of mixed materials at “rapid speeds” and deposit them into the appropriate areas for further sorting.

One robot is dedicated to removing thermoformed packaging—clamshells, cups, tubs, lids and trays—from the container line, Quillen says. “It’s all PET, but it’s different quality and generally affects how we market the material and our pricing, so we dedicated one robot to pull out thermoform PET from the optically sorted PET stream,” he explains.

Jamming and clogging on the robotic line because of plastic film is an issue Recology proactively works to avoid. Ferrari says Recycle Central aims to “eliminate as much plastic film as possible before material hits the robotic lines.” The suction head of the robots is watched closely to maintain optimal performance.

The material on the conveyor belt also needs to be spread out evenly for better performance, he adds.

“We understood that we would have to deal with the learning curve of the robots,” Quillen says. “You need to be proactive in that. You’ve got to pay attention to what the robots are missing and make sure you’re working with your equipment vendor to let them know these are the items we need to introduce into the recognition system so it can sort them.

“We had to bring on additional mechanics to support the robots throughout the day,” Quillen continues. “We have someone assigned to the container line that walks the line during the shift to make sure the robots are doing what we’re asking them to do.”

Extra quality control

Recology has a reputation for producing high-quality bales of recyclables, which Quillen attributes to the company’s “holistic approach to quality.”

For example, Recology operates a curbside composting program and completed a $19 million expansion of its transfer station in December 2019. The transfer station’s new 16,000-square-foot West Wing helps process about 800 tons of food scraps and yard trimmings per day. The composting program helps keep food and liquids out of Recycle Central, which gives the sorters and robots a better chance at producing quality finished bales, says Robert Reed, public relations manager at Recology.

Recycle Central also claims to have the longest initial sort line in North America. Of the 200 employees who work at the facility, 170 are involved in sorting as well as maintenance, Quillen says.

He adds that working with recycling industry veterans, including Recycle Central’s maintenance manager who has been in the recycling industry for 40 years, is a big part of Recycle Central’s success. “They understand the plant and the issues we’re going to deal with,” he says.

Despite veteran personnel, the MRF still has its challenges. “Every day, we’re sending around 10 percent of all [incoming] tons to the landfill because there are items that aren’t recyclable,” Quillen says. “We have the same issues with organics. People put things in the organics bins that are not compostable.”

Supply chain engagement

Materials processed at Recycle Central are baled and shipped to domestic and international markets. Steel and aluminum are sent to foundries in the U.S., while paper and cardboard bales go to paper mills in the U.S., Canada and countries that border the Pacific Ocean. Glass goes to a glass manufacturing plant in northern California where it’s recycled into new bottles, Quillen says.

Over the last two years, many global brands and consumer goods companies have made a pilgrimage to Recycle Central to see how their products fare in the recycling plant, Reed says. For example, a candy manufacturer sent 20 pounds of wrappers to the facility to test its recyclability. Recycle Central ran the material through its system and created a storyboard to show company executives how much of the packaging would be recycled, composted or sent to landfill.

“They talk with us on what can be recycled and what can’t,” Reed says, adding that Recology offers suggestions on how brands can improve their packaging to make it more recyclable.

While the growing packaging stream presents challenges, it also offers new opportunities. For example, the facility now recovers curbside-collected aseptic containers, and it is always on the lookout for ways to optimize markets for incoming materials.

This article originally appeared in the March issue of Recycling Today, a sister publication of Waste Today.

Electric collection vehicles have become a topic of interest for waste haulers seeking to lower their carbon footprint, but for companies like Portland, Maine-based Ecomaine, this new technology poses a more unique opportunity.

Since opening its waste-to-energy plant in 1989, Ecomaine has seen a decrease in the value of the energy it produces. Unable to compete with the cheaper prices of natural gas, the company was left without significant revenue, losing a major source of funding for its programs and facilities.

In an effort to increase the produced electricity’s value in-house, Ecomaine sought to replace its two diesel-powered trucks—which transport waste material from the plant to the company’s landfill—with electric waste hauling trucks fueled by its operations.

The purchase of the vehicles would be made possible by a combined grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Diesel Emissions Reduction Act program and the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) that covers 57.5 percent of the capital investment. The grant, combined with funds matched by Ecomaine, would allow the company to secure the two electric trucks.

“The vehicles are [almost] two to three times more expensive than a traditional combustion engine vehicle,” says Ecomaine CEO Kevin Roche. “So, when we got the funding that would basically neutralize that investment for us, we went out to the market to find out who was offering these trucks.”

In March, the waste management company announced its purchase of two vehicles from Canada-based Lion Electric Co., making it the first company in the U.S. to employ all-electric waste hauling trucks that will be powered by its own waste-to-energy operations.

“[Lion Electric] had a key focus on what it was that we wanted to do and what changes they needed to make to the truck,” says Roche. “The prototype [truck] they had was kind of off the shelf, so we needed some changes. This is a heavy-duty application, so we needed the capacity to be there. They were very willing to work to make those changes for us and make sure that this was the solution that we needed for this application.”

The right fit

Created in partnership with Boivin Evolution (BEV), Lion Electrics’ Class 8 truck is the first waste vehicle with a powertrain and automated collection hopper that are both 100 percent electric. Able to be used to collect household waste, recycling and organic material, the vehicle consists of a Lion8 chassis and BEV all-electric automated side-loading hopper.

Featuring a range of up to 249 miles, or a full day of operation in a residential setting (approximately 1,200 homes) on a single charge, Gary Lalonde, sales director for Lion Electric, says Ecomaine’s application of the electric vehicles is an “ideal situation.”

“Ecomaine has a situation that is actually pretty fantastic in that they have a waste-to-energy facility where they burn the waste in an environmentally friendly way and that creates steam, which powers a turbine that creates energy,” says Lalonde. “For them, going all electric was a really good solution because they have an opportunity where it’s almost 100 percent savings because they’re going to create their own energy.”

With the trucks scheduled to bring the waste-to-energy plant’s waste ash to Ecomaine’s landfill just a short distance away, the vehicles are expected to save the company 75 percent on fuel costs over six years when compared to diesel trucks.

The trucks also make more sense than investing in compressed natural gas (CNG) trucks, the company says.

“If you take a look at the total cost of CNG versus electric, the infrastructure that you require for electric can be used in other applications and is significantly less than having set up a CNG refill on-site,” says Lalonde.

Additionally, the new trucks boast zero-emission features and will require fewer mechanical parts to maintain.

“Basically, we’re looking at savings of $50,000 to $60,000 over six years on maintenance costs of two vehicles. So, that [includes] oil changes, brake adjustments and things like that,” says Shawn Rybski, landfill supervisor for Ecomaine. “With these electric trucks, we’re going to have [Lion Electric] training our truck drivers specifically, but when you’re using the retentive breaking systems that these trucks have, you’re actually using the motor to stop the vehicle instead of the brakes on your traditional diesel trucks and other trucks on the road.”

"Traditional diesel engines have a lot of moving parts. When looking at an electric truck, those moving parts are cut by more than half, so you don’t have replacement parts wearing out on electric versus your traditional diesel truck,” –Shawn Rybski, landfill supervisor, Ecomaine

He adds, “Traditional diesel engines have a lot of moving parts. When looking at an electric truck, those moving parts are cut by more than half, so you don’t have replacement parts wearing out on electric versus your traditional diesel truck.”

As for charging infrastructure, the trucks are compatible with Level 2 and Level 3 charging stations and can fully recharge in four to eight hours. The unit can be self-sufficient with its own battery pack, with no need for power from the chassis to operate the body. Its battery pack can also be integrated on a Lion8 chassis to optimize the pack sizing, the energy consumption and the battery recharge.

Getting on the road

According to Lalonde, the feedback on the electric trucks so far has been positive for those who have come to the manufacturer’s site to test drive them.

“People have been able to come to our facility and go on a private track where they can actually drive the vehicle,” he says. “From anybody who’s driven it, we’ve not gotten a single negative comment. Everybody loves it—they’re all surprised at how much power it has straight out the gate after they see it tested.”

Patrick Gervais, vice president of marketing and communications at Lion Electric, adds, “All of our vehicles, especially our trucks, are purpose-built for electric. Therefore, clients and the people who try [it] tend to see the difference right away. Everything is built, thought and engineered to be electric.”

Ecomaine’s refuse trucks are expected to be delivered by Jan. 1, 2021, and the company is currently putting together final plans to bring these trucks in and put them right to use.

“We’re going to have to purchase roll-off containers for this application. We’re putting a huge investment in these trucks, so we want to make sure we keep them clean. We’re looking at a wash system so that they can be cleaned and washed because the last thing we want to do is ruin our investment in these trucks because they aren’t cleaned on a regular basis. We have an aggressive schedule, and we want to deploy these trucks as soon as we get them,” says Roche.

The author is the assistant editor of Waste Today and can be reached at hrischar@gie.net.

In April 2015, Sonoma County, California, divested all active disposal operations within its jurisdiction, reducing its staff from over 50 active employees down to three.

Left with only one facility specialist for seven landfill sites located hours apart, the county’s Public Works and Integrated Waste Division was left with a dilemma on how to manage its landfill monitoring workload with fewer employees.

“Federal and state regulations require post-closure maintenance, monitoring and reporting for closed landfill sites in order to safeguard the health and welfare of the public and to protect the environment,” says Glen Morelli, a geologist for Sonoma County’s Department of Transportation and Public Works Integrated Waste Division. “With limited staffing, it was desirable to automate, where applicable, these functions to more efficiently manage these legacy sites.”

With Sonoma still responsible for maintaining the closed landfill sites, the county released a request for proposals in October 2015 to identify a supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system that would capacitate monitoring at five of Sonoma’s sites to mitigate the county’s staffing dearth.

Choosing the right system

Ultimately, SCS Engineers was up to the challenge, offering a cloud-based SCADA system. Based on a comprehensive proposal and discussion with SCS’ technical staff, the county chose to partner with the Long Beach, California-based environmental consulting and construction firm on the implementation of a Remote Monitoring Control (RMC) system.

The proposed system would integrate the landfills’ electronic monitoring systems via the internet to help track their data. “The amount of work that 50 people can do is not the same amount of work that two or three people can do. So, [Sonoma County] needed some way to bridge that gap,” says David Hostetter, regional manager for SCS Remote Monitoring and Controls (RMC).

Through a network of sensors and machine-to-machine (M2M) applications, the system provides facility teams with a single secure application for their SCADA, data management and reporting needs.

“An [RMC] system allows you to keep track of the separate sensors and controls all in one packaged control data acquisition and viewing application,” says Hostetter. “These systems are set up so that owners and operators of landfills can monitor the entire facility from their mobile phone or their computer.”

He adds, “The key to the system is the internet connection. There is a series of control panels and sensors that are connected, generally through some sort of wireless network. The data is collected at that location and then sent out over the internet back to a server, where clients can look at their facility remotely.”

Remote monitoring

“The primary goal of our SCADA system was to have information readily available anytime and anywhere [away] from our sites, [so there was] specific data we wanted included,” says Morelli. With this in mind, SCS enabled several functions to support Sonoma’s RMC, including alarms, data recording and review, radio systems, an industrial cellular modem and weather stations.

Sonoma, in particular, requested the monitoring of weather patterns, leachate storage volume, power and backup, and flare operations. In order to obtain this information, SCS installed sensors on each piece of equipment the county wanted to monitor. The sensors were then configured to specified parameters based on the sites’ unique needs and environmental reporting responsibilities.

A dashboard interface allows the facilities to review data from each site individually or collectively. To enable this, SCS records the data on each site and streams it to a cloud database with the MQ Telemetry Transport or Message Queue Telemetry Transport (MQTT) ISO standard.

For its leachate storage monitoring, the county utilizes an application provided to its contracted haulers that allows drivers to see on their phone when a facility needs leachate hauled to storage. Similarly, mag meters on pump stations allow the team to see when a waste hauler arrives at a site and how much leachate is removed from the facility.

“By being able to monitor leachate generation and off-haul, we can more effectively manage our hauling contractor, which brings leachate to the wastewater treatment plant from our facilities,” says Morelli.

Noting that leachate generation can be heavily influenced by rainfall, SCS also installed a weather station with an ultrasonic anemometer at each side of the sites. This allows the firm to track rain accumulation, temperature, humidity, wind speed and wind direction, while also providing the ability to control the pumping systems based on current and predicted rainfall.

When the sites’ sensor readings are detected outside an acceptable range, or if an environmental threshold is reaching exceedance, the RMC is designed to send an alert to appropriate staff through a phone, computer or tablet.

The county’s alerts feature a customized combination of email, voice and SMS alarms that are sent to various liquid haulers and end users, which are delivered through a central internet-based cloud gateway that supports all five sites. SCS can also reduce the amount of hardware necessary on-site, and the county can remotely adjust alarms and create new alarms as operations and compliance dictates. These notifications are critical in Sonoma County, where a number of sites are subject to power outages, which can heavily impact remedial facilities on-site, so the system lets personnel know if power is lost, as well as if the backup generator takes over.

“Having the virtual check on system operations allows us to not have to send a technician or facility specialist to the site if we can see the system is functioning property during a power outage,” says Morelli. “This has become a more important feature given the planned power outages implemented by power providers in [California] over the last few years.”

The benefits

According to Hostetter, the ability to manage a site remotely has been a major benefit to clients, including Sonoma, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Sitting here at my desk in Pennsylvania, I could look at a site that’s in California,” he says. “[Remote monitoring] lowers the operations and maintenance costs because the owners no longer have to pay for somebody to physically go out to the facility, so it’s cutting out all the drive time and lowering their health and safety obligations, as well.”

For Sonoma County, the biggest economic advantage of the RMC system has been in hauling cost savings. “Before the system, we would send out tanker trucks to a facility to remove leachate from storage, not knowing if there was a need or not,” Morelli explains. Many times, he adds, this resulted in half-full or near-empty loads where the county deployed a resource and did not need it. With the RMC in place, Sonoma can now track if the need is there before deploying a resource, whether that is to remove leachate, fix a flare or deal with a power outage.

Currently, SCS has installed RMC systems at roughly 100 sites across the U.S.

“We’ve found [this system] as an overall organization to be really beneficial for our engineers and our field staff,” says Hostetter. “We want to try to leverage technology as much as possible to enable our field staff to be able to get more done, our engineers to understand the systems better, and really we want to try to make everyone’s life better.”

The author is the assistant editor of Waste Today and can be reached at hrischar@gie.net.

Despite the drastic changes that impacted businesses and individuals from coast to coast starting in mid-March, the waste industry didn’t skip a beat in answering the call to serve customers amid the challenges of COVID-19.

Although workers remained on the job, the virus necessitated greater due diligence pertaining to collection safety, according to Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA) Executive Director and CEO David Biderman.

“Waste management companies and municipal sanitation departments have taken many steps to help protect their frontline workers during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Biderman says. “First, they have made operational changes to ensure social distancing in facilities. For example, drivers no longer meet as a group before shifts, and sorters are separated on the sort lines at many MRFs either by plexiglass or are otherwise 6 feet apart. The cabs of the trucks are being cleaned after every shift, and high touch points such as door handles, steering wheels and knobs are receiving extra attention. Break rooms and lunchrooms are being closed or modified temporarily to keep workers from congregating, and disposal facilities are ensuring the scale house attendant isn’t handling cash or interacting the same way with the driver of the trucks. Second, there has been increased emphasis on personal hygiene, including frequent handwashing and the use of disinfectant wipes. Third, although the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] (CDC), [Occupational Safety and Health Administration] (OSHA) and others agree that waste materials are not a vector for the transmission of COVID, and that regular PPE (i.e., gloves) should be sufficient to protect employees, many employers are providing additional PPE including masks and facial coverings to their frontline workers.”

Keeping distant

Republic Services says that the Phoenix-based company immediately tried to limit the contact its drivers had with one another once it understood the threat of the coronavirus. This required segregating staff and closing off access to some parts of its facilities.

“In March, we made extensive changes at all of our facilities to help ensure proper social distancing for all our employees. This included adjusting our procedures to limit the number of drivers interacting with other drivers and employees when they crew in and out at the beginning and end of the day,” a Republic spokesperson says.

Waste Pro, Longwood, Florida, says the company has taken similar actions to distance workers. The company says it has restricted access to non-company personnel coming into its locations, provided additional space for office employees, allowed some staff to work from home, modified lunch and conference rooms to help encourage workers to spread out, and moved meetings outside when possible and limited groups to 10 or fewer while maintaining the recommended 6 feet of distance.

For its part, Rumpke Waste and Recycling, Colerain Township, Ohio, says it has introduced a pandemic sick leave policy to make it easier for those who may be ill to stay home from work. The company has also adjusted time clock procedures, staggered or limited break room use and changed meeting policies to reduce the volume of those working in the same place at the same time. The company also says its IT department ensured the possibility of remote work for nearly 800 employees within a week, and its staff meetings are now conducted virtually when possible to help distance staff.

Taking sanitation seriously

Although cleanliness is always a priority for waste haulers, now more than ever, companies are working to make sure sanitation products are available to workers to help keep employees safe.

Waste Pro says facility areas drivers frequent are now stocked with cleaners and wipes at all times. Additionally, the company stocks pre- and post-trip areas with cleaning supplies and assigns personnel to sanitize vehicles and equipment each evening. If a truck is worked on, it is sanitized again after repairs are made. The company also provides sanitizing wipes to each equipment operator and helper crew to use during their shift, and truck interiors—including steering wheels, door and window latches and dashes—are wiped down daily.

Republic says beyond advocating for better sanitation practices among workers, it has also been more proactive in setting the company’s cleaning schedules because of the virus.

“We have instructed employees on personal hygiene protocol for COVID-19 and ... all of our facilities and equipment are on enhanced cleaning schedules, with cleanings scheduled multiple times per day. We also are conducting deep cleaning and disinfection of any operating location, including trucks and heavy equipment, that may have been exposed to COVID-19,” the company says

Stocking up on Personal protective equipment

With the demand for PPE sky high, waste companies have had to work to keep employees outfitted with ample safety gear.

Rumpke says its Procurement and Safety divisions have “worked tirelessly to secure and distribute gloves and a variety of face coverings, including masks of all sorts, from disposable to reusable and even gaiters, to provide extra protection in the field and in office environments.”

Waste Pro says it has strategized to provide collection crews with multiple pairs of gloves so workers can change them out when needed. The company also says it provides masks and neck gaiters to protect employees and those who come into contact with them.

Even though the distribution of PPE is essential, ensuring it is correctly used is just as important.

Waste Pro says that the company’s management provides consistent messaging to truck crews reminding them to get in the habit of removing their gloves and sanitizing their hands before touching their face. The company also stresses the importance of adhering to CDC guidelines for preventing COVID-19 exposure and provides handouts and posters covering the guidelines. Waste Pro says it frequently discusses these best practices with staff to keep safety top of mind.

A comprehensive effort

While company managers and office personnel aren’t on the streets manning collection trucks, they still play a pivotal role in keeping workers safe.

“The weight of the pandemic has rested heavily on our managers and frontline employees, and they haven’t missed a beat,” Rumpke says. “Managers have essentially had to shift all procedures without much time to do so, even while the volumes of residential waste soared and commercial waste dropped off. These managers distributed information and safety gear, hosted meetings and check-ins by phone, provided lunches and perks for their teams, all while ensuring customer satisfaction. They’ve been amazing.”

According to Waste Pro, company management’s concerted effort to protect its staff hasn’t gone unnoticed.

“The pandemic has strengthened the relationships between our managers and frontline workers,” the company says. “We care about the safety of our employees and moved as quickly as we could to provide what was needed to keep them safe. We have gotten better by working together, and we are learning that many of the changes we have made should be a permanent part of our operations going forward.”

As businesses have reopened and the country tries to regain some semblance of normalcy, the industry remains dedicated to making sure that waste workers continue to stay safe on the job.

“Our drivers, operators, customer service reps, MRF and landfill employees have never worked harder,” Rumpke says. “During the pandemic, our efforts to protect human health through proper waste services were critical. We too had an essential role, and Rumpke’s everyday heroes rose to the occasion. We have never been prouder.”

“Keeping our employees and their families safe and well while providing much-needed services for customers will always be Rumpke’s main focus,” Rumpke added. “We are strong, we remain poised and ready to continue fighting through the challenges the pandemic presents.”

The author is the editor of Waste Today and can be contacted at aredling@gie.net.